Nut-lock



(No Model.)

I. J. GRIFFIN.

NUT LOOK.

No. 443,675. 1 Patented De0.30,1890.

UNITFD STATES PATENT OFFICE.

IRA J. GRIFFIN, OF SING SING, NEIV YORK.

NUT-LOOK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 443,675, dated December 30, 1890. Application filed March 25, 1890. Serial No. 345.209. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern/.-

Be it known that I, IRA J. GRIFFIN, of Sing Sing, in the county of \Vestchester and State of New York, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Hut-Locks, of which the following is a specification.

The object is to provide means for elfectually looking a nut against displacement, no matter how great the jar or in what direction the strain tending to release the nut may be exerted, and at the same time to provide for the ready removal of the locking device for the purpose of intentionally removing the nut.

Vith these ends in View my invention comprises a bolt having a longitudinal groove, a nut having one or more grooves or recesses, and a key adapted to enter the groove in the bolt and engage a recess in the nut.

My invention further comprises certain details of construction by means of which the key is securely locked in its position in en gagement with the nut and in an auxiliary locking device adapted to use in connection with the key for furtherinsuring the holding of the key in position either in connection with locking-teeth upon thekey or independently thereof.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a bolt partly in section with nut and key in locked adjustment. Fig. 2 represents a nut, key, and portion of the bolt in side elevation with the releasing-wrench in position to remove the key. Fig. 3 represents a face view of the nut in detail. Fig. 4 represents a view of the key in side elevation. Fig. 5 represents a bottom plan view of the same; Fig. 6, a top plan view ofthe auxiliary locking attachment, and Fig. 7 a View of the lower portion of the releasingwrench.

A represents a bolt provided throughout a portion of its length with screw-threads, as is usual. The bolt A has formed therein a groove at, extending from the end of its threaded portion toward the head a distanceof half the length of the bolt, more or less.

B represents a nut having an internal thread, as is usual, and provided on its outer face or end with one or more grooves or recesses b. I prefer to locate the grooves or recesses Z7 at frequent intervals along the margin of the bore of the nut and to extend them radially from the bore of the nut to the outer edge of the nut, as shown clearly in F1g. 3. I further find it advisable to cut away the inncr edge of the wall of the not at the outer end'of its bore, as shown at b, for the reception of the shoulder of the key, as will hereinafter more fully appear.

. The general shape of the key is that of a U-shaped head, one of the branches of the U -shaped head being turned substantially at right angles to the other branch and extending for a considerable distance in the plane of the head portion.

The branches of the U-shaped portion of the key are denoted by the letters Go, and the extended portion of the branch 0 is denoted by o'. The latter is slightly curved in a direction away from the opening between 'the branches of the U-shaped portion, and

the branch 0 is extended beyond the branch 0, so that when the key is placed with the ends of its branches toward the bottom of the groove in the bolt the end of the branch 0 and of the extension 0 will first engage the bottom of the groove and hold the rest of the key away from the bottom,the curved extension 0 projecting normally out beyond the peripheryofthebolt. Thekeyisformedofsome suitable spring met-alsteel, for exampleand that portion of the branch 0 toward the face or outer end of the nut is of such Width as to enter one of the grooves or recesses 1n the end of the nut. The key is further provided with a shoulder 0 projecting from the branch 0 in position to engage the recess at the margin of the portion of the nut at the same time that the portion a engages the re cess at the end of the nut. It follows from the above that when the nut is screwed on to the bolt and the key slid along in the groove in thebolt, its extension 0' passing under the threaded wall of the nut, the wall of the nut will press inwardly on the extension 0' and force the key firmly against the bottom of the groove in the bolt, and when the key has been forced so far as to bring its branch 0 into engagement with one of the re cesses on the end of the nut the nut will be held by the key against a rotary motion, While the key will be held by the nut against alongitudinal motion.

In order to prevent the key from any ha bility of sliding longitudinally in the groove in the bolt, I provide an auxiliary locking attachment E, having a concave face (2, provided with screw-threads adapted to register with the threads on the bolt. The front and rear walls of the piece 1* are recessed, as shown, at c to receive the inner edges of the branches (1 c of the key, whereby the attachmentE may be inserted and held between the said branches of the key in position to engage the threads of the bolt. The back of the attachment E is beveled, as shown at c 1 i gs. 1 and 2, so that the said attachment is allowed a slight rocking motion toward and away from the end of the nut between the branches of the key. From this construction it follows that any tendency of the key to slide outwardly from its locked position in engagement with the nut will tend to tilt the attachment E and cause its threaded face to hug more closely the threads of the nut, and thereby effectually prevent any considerable sliding of the key. On the other hand, when it is desired to remove the key a Wrench 1, having a bifurcated end, as shown, may be applied to the ends of the attachment E, and using the outeredge of the nut as a fulcrum the attachment maybe slightly lifted and rocked into aposition to release its threaded face from the threads of the nut and at the same time release the end of the branch 0 of the keyfrom the bottom of the groove, and thereby slide the key out of its position in engagement with the nut.

To still further insure the key against lia bility of displacement in cases where the item of a slight increase in cost does not enter as material, I provide the end of the branch C with one or more teeth g, adapted to interlock with a series of notches or teeth G, formed along the bottom of the groove a of the bolt. These notches or teeth G may be made finer than the threads of the bolt, so as to form a lock for the key at very slight iir tervals.

\Vhat I claim as in yinvention, and dcsi re to secure byLetters Patent, is-

1. The combination, with a bolt provided with a longitudinal groove and a nut having one or more recesses 011 its outerend or face, 5 of a key having a U-shaped ontcrportiomthe outer branch of the U shaped portion projecting into and engaging at its end the bottom of the groove in the bolt, the inner branch of the U-shaped portion constructed to en- 5 gage the recess in the end of the nut and having an extension extending along the groove within the nut, the said inner branch being held away from the bottom of the groove by the said extension, and the key being forced toward the bottom of the groove by the engagement of the nut with said extension, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination, with a threaded bolt havin a lon itudinal groove and a nut hav 6 C! D k.-

ing one or more recesses in its end, of the two-branch key having an extension to engage the in ncr wall of the nut, and a locking device held between the branches of the key in engagement with the thread of the bolt, 7 substantially as specified.

3. In combination,the bolt having a longitudinal groove, a nut having one or more recesses in its end, a two-branch key fitted to enter the groove beneath the nut and to en- 7 gage the recess in the end of the nut, and a locking device constructed so as to have a rocking movement between the branches of the key and an engagement with the threads of the bolt, substantially as set forth.

4-. In combination, the bolt having alongitndinal groove provided with notches or teeth on its bottom, a nut having one or more recesses in its end, the two-branch key having an engagement with the inner wall of the nut S and with the end of the nut, one of the branches of the key interlocking with the teeth or notches at the base of the groove, and a locking device located between the branches of the key in engagement with the threads of the bolt, substantially as set forth.

IRA .T. GRIFIiIN. Witnesses:

RODNEY S. Loo cwoon, TILLLUW P. HALL. 

